Archives for October 2005

‘For the Bills to have any chance of ending their four-game losing streak in Foxboro, they will have to address the issues that have doomed them in those games. Running the ball. Protecting the ball. Protecting the quarterback.’

‘The Bills have lost their last four Sunday night prime time games, including last season’s tilt in New England, 29-6. They are 5-8 on the road on Sunday nights. To prepare for the late start, coach Mike Mularkey will have his team practice Friday night to get their body clocks adjusted.’

‘”We can’t deal with the past, the past is just that, it’s the past,” defensive tackle Chris Kelsay said. “We got to put the Raiders behind us and move forward and just try to get better and correct the mistakes we’ve been making.”‘

‘“I’d like to get out there and see,” Bruschi said before Wednesday’s practice, his second with contact. “But it’s out of my control now. I’m back. I’m a player. I’m a member of the team. So I’ve trusted my coaches ever since I was in high school.”’

‘“I’m not frustrated. I’m a little disappointed,” receiver Eric Moulds said Wednesday. “That’s the offense we’re running right now, and hopefully, eventually, the coaches will see that we need to throw the ball downfield a little more.”’

‘Q: Eric Moulds is only averaging 8.5 yards per catch. We aren’t used to seeing that.

MM: We are trying to get the ball downfield. There are plays called and I look at last week and they were again, but we just didn’t hit them. Eric is still a threat, just not with the average. It is not because it hasn’t been called, it is we just have not really had the success getting the ball downfield like we would like to.’

‘Q: Troy, what is your sense of what is not happening on defense for the Bills? Obviously it was a strength the last couple of years for the Bills, and yet the numbers aren’t there and the performance is not there so far.

TV: I just believe that we have not been a good tackling team up front. We’re a gap-control football team and we just have to get men taking care of their own responsibilities. When things aren’t going well and the momentum’s not on our side of the field, we have a tendency to try to do things that we shouldn’t be doing and you’re not taking care of your own responsibilities. Bar any of the injuries. When guys come in, they have to step up and they have to play. We just haven’t been a good tackling team, a good, sound team at times during football games. Some times we’ve been awfully good, then at other times, we haven’t been good at all.’

‘”It’s a concern,” coach Mike Mularkey said. “Any time you make a change, especially on the offensive line, you’ve got to be concerned about it.”‘

‘In the four games McGahee has carried the ball at least 20 times, he has rushed for 117, 140, 86 and 143 yards and the team is 3-1. In the Bills other three games, McGahee carried the ball 13, 16 and 16 times and the team went 0-3. It’s pretty obvious the more McGahee touches the ball, the better the Bills chances are of winning football games.’

‘Has anyone ever run against the Patriots like O.J. Simpson once did? Long before he hopped in a white Bronco and led police on a chase, the Hall of Fame-bound back ran away from the Pats.’

‘Mularkey said he would have taken a knee. “Like we did last year against the (St. Louis) Rams where we had a lead very similar and we took a knee,” Mularkey said. “If I were in that situation again I would take the knee just out of respect. But it’s two different football teams and two different thought processes, and I’m not questioning what they did, but I would tell you what we would do. We would take the knee.”‘

‘”It was unbelievable. How many kids get to play for their hometown team – even if they weren’t any good,” Conlan said Tuesday night. “Marv Levy and Bill Polian put together the best team in the history of the NFL. I can guarantee a team like that – four straight Super Bowls – you will never see that again.”‘

‘It’s now up to head coach Mike Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements to show some trust in their young signalcaller and give him a manageable game plan that accentuates his strengths and gives him a fighting chance to succeed. The bye week gives the coaching staff the perfect opportunity to rebuild Losman’s confidence and work on the plays that he’s best-suited for and which involve all of the team’s considerable weapons, including WRs Eric Moulds, Lee Evans and Roscoe Parrish and RB Willis McGahee.’

‘Patriots 42, Bills 6.’

‘The Bills need a big game from McGahee to keep their own defense off the field. The loss of linebacker Takeo Spikes, who tore his Achilles’ tendon in Week 3, has left them vulnerable against the run. They’re allowing 159.0 rushing yards per game – second worst in the NFL – and are coming off a sorry performance against Oakland last week in which Raiders running back LaMont Jordan scored a career-high three touchdowns.’